15 Comments so far ↓

Everything Finch does, Ganim does better. Ganim brought down crime in Bridgeport when Bridgeport was worse. He pushed out the gangs and drugs. If Ganim were Mayor he would be cracking down on all this nonsense and would fund the police like they need to be funded. That’s why the Police endorse Ganim.

Not one of the furious fourteen running for mayor is willing or able to take on important issues like tax relief, pollution, failing schools. A vote for either Ganim or Finch is a vote for the status quo. The DTC members who vote for Ganim run the risk of angering Finch, which is not hard to do.

Bpt Kid, I can’t disagree with you but I am so terrified of this moron Finch winning, I think it is better to support Ganim and not risk having all the votes become spread thin and then Finch loses. Finch has been just an awful mayor. He has done nothing for this city. Taxes keep going up, the streets are dirty, crime is high, the arcade mall is still empty, downtown shows no progress, a store opens then it closes, the North End of Bridgeport is not what is used to be. He focuses so much on Steelpointe the rest of Bridgeport is looking like a dump. And for what? For development that doesn’t even expand the tax base of Bridgeport and address the REAL issues.

Ganim did fix downtown BPT. He moved HCC into the old Hi-Ho mall, turning the entire property tax exempt. I guess we can thank (blame) him for the downtown BPT has today. Here is a comment he made as reported in the NY Times, February 9, 1997.

The college and its art collection are considered to be major assets for Bridgeport’s efforts to revitalize its downtown business district. Chris Duby, a spokesman for Mayor Joseph P. Ganim, said the college would help restore the downtown area as “the cultural and economic development center for the city.” Just having Housatonic’s 2,600 students there will help the downtown economy, he said.

Torres! Torres! Torres! Just examine what he has exposed in the time he has been on the council! I mean, I know he ain’t perfect but really people, this man loves Bridgeport to his core. At least talk to him. Stop by his store. He would love it. For or against, just go meet him, puh-leeeze!

I’m waiting, biding my time until after the September 16th primary. We’ll see who is the last man standing and how many votes each of the five candidates garnered. The ones who didn’t win, place or show will bow out gracefully or not. One or two may throw their support behind another candidate. Or not: Finch and Ganim are the two front runners in the Democratic primary; both have toxicity written all over them.

I was willing to give Joe Ganim a fair shake but he has not offered any concrete plans on dealing with high taxes, the economy or the local environment. All the brownfields in Bridgeport have to be causing health problems for the residents who live near them. There has to be grant money to clean up the polluted sites, from the federal EPA or the state environmental agency, or both.

New train station? So what. New strip mall with a sporting goods store and a fancy-shmancy theater? Big fucking deal. All the new construction is fine and dandy but none of it addresses other issues like sky-high taxes, polluted water and soil and a failing school system.

Who’s going to take on these problems? Finch? No. Ganim? Probably not. Foster? Hasn’t said one way or the other. Gardner? N.A. Coviello? He always comes in last. Torres? Maybe. None of them will be able to accomplish much of anything with the current lineup of “not ready for primetime players” on the City Council, almost all of whom are vulnerable to pressure from Mario Testa because of their employment with the city of Bridgeport. They were elected to represent the people of the city of Bridgeport. Does that ever enter into their thought processes? Hell, no.